


Pond Scum & Pesto: First Draft

by CeceRose



Series: Stranger Things Murder Mystery Scripts [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Gen, One Shot, Screenplay/Script Format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24731797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeceRose/pseuds/CeceRose
Summary: Steve gets caught in a rainstorm and is forced to take refuge at the Wheelers' house while The Party is having a sleepover. Meanwhile, Dustin tries to cook pesto sauce out of pond scum.
Relationships: Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson
Series: Stranger Things Murder Mystery Scripts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539118
Kudos: 4





	Pond Scum & Pesto: First Draft

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of a larger work. I eventually want to make enough scenes to string into a greater narrative that is episode-length. I wrote a couple previous scenes way back between October and January when I wanted to submit them as an internship application. Now I've graduated and finally have time to write the rest of the episode for fun. This scene is actually a revised draft of one of the ones I wrote months ago, but it's the only one I never published because it was physically handwritten and I lost the original notebook. Enjoy~

FADE IN:

EXT. THE WHEELERS' HOUSE - NIGHT

It rains relentlessly and nothing can be heard other than the buckets of heavy drops suicide bombing themselves against, the ground, plants, roofs, and enormous puddles below. STEVE HARRINGTON’s BMW pulls up in front of the house very slowly, unable to get a clear view through the windshield as rain waterfalls over it. The vehicle parks with its tires halfway deep in an ever-growing puddle. As it does, it splashes water over the curb and onto the muddy sidewalk. Steve stares helplessly out the window. The rain all has a slight green tint to it.

CUT TO:

INT. BMW - NIGHT

STEVE

(Muttering to himself)

No, no, no.

He looks at the house, its window lights shining like a lighthouse.

STEVE

(Still muttering)

Dammit…

CUT TO:

INT. THE WHEELERS’ KITCHEN — NIGHT

DUSTIN HENDERSON stands in front of the brightly lit kitchen counter. On the stove behind him is a pot of boiling pasta. He looks inside and grins excitedly to see that it’s ready. He then turns off the stove and pours the contents of the pot into a strainer in the sink. He returns the pasta to the pot, now on the counter. Then he unscrews a jar, however, the contents of said jar are out of view. He is about to lift it into view to pour it in the pot when the doorbell suddenly rings and he is forced to leave it.

CUT TO:

INT. THE WHEELERS’ LIVING ROOM — NIGHT

Dustin opens the front door to see Steve standing in the doorway, his hair and clothes flat against his skin and the rest of him dripping from the rain. As soon as the door opens, the pattering of rain blasts from outside like a loudspeaker. Steve stares at Dustin expectantly.

STEVE

Hi, friend! Are you gonna let me inside?

Dustin stares for a moment, unable to process what he sees before him.

DUSTIN

Uh, y-yeah! Come on in! Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler are gone for the weekend and Nancy went to the lake with Jonathan. I’ll get Mike, he’s upstairs. He wouldn’t want you out in the rain but he also wouldn’t want you tracking mud and water into his house. And by that I mean he wouldn’t like that his parents wouldn’t like it.

Steve has already taken off his shoes and jacket. He rings out what he can off his shirt sleeves.

STEVE

Did you say Nancy and Jonathan went to the lake?

DUSTIN

Yeah, but then it suddenly started raining like God’s piss. They can’t still be there.

He peaks around Steve to stare out into the rain-soaked darkness.

DUSTIN

Hopefully the road doesn’t flood.

Steve looks out the door thoughtfully. As much as he hopes his friends make it back okay, he refuses to entertain the thought of going back out into the rain to search for them. He closes the door and the obnoxious splattering ceases abruptly

STEVE

I’m sure they’re on their way back.

CUT TO:

INT. THE WHEELERS’ KITCHEN — NIGHT

Steve dries off his hair with a hand towel. He is significantly dryer. His eyes drift over to the pot of pasta and then to the jar, still out of sight. He freezes, a green pallor on his face. Dustin emerges at the bottom of the stairs and joins Steve in the kitchen.

DUSTIN

Well, the good news is Mike says you can stay the night so long as you don’t get anything too wet. The bad news is, if Jonathan doesn’t have any spare clothes on him, or Nancy doesn’t want you to wear her bathrobe, we’re gonna have to dry you off with the hair dryer.

He notices the sickened look on Steve’s face.

DUSTIN

You alright?

STEVE

(Holding up the jar)

What’s in here?

The jar is filled with a concentrated green fluid that bubbles and has a grainy texture on the surface.

DUSTIN

(Cheerful and ecstatic)

Oh! That’s the pesto sauce I was gonna use for the pasta! Oh hey! You should totally help me prepare it!

STEVE

(Observing the jar with a troubled expression)

Where exactly did you get this?

DUSTIN

(Shrugging)

I don’t know, it was in the fridge.

He enthusiastically pours it into a frying pan on the stove.

DUSTIN

I know it’s really liquidy right now, that’s why we just need to cook it.

He looks Steve over a second time, who is gradually drying up.

DUSTIN

(Pointing)

And you should probably wash your hands if you’re gonna help out with this.

CUT TO:

INT. THE WHEELERS’ KITCHEN — NIGHT

Dustin retrieves the pan from the stove. Much of the water has evaporated, revealing what appears to be an entanglement of multiple strands of moss. The water that remains bathes the strands in murky, green pools. Dustin tips the pan over the pot of pasta.

DUSTIN

(To Steve)

You wanna do the honors?

Steve scrapes the sauce into the pot with a spatula.

STEVE

(Acting fast)

We should test this out before we serve it to anyone.

DUSTIN

That’s a good idea.

Steve is already pulling a plate out of the cabinet and setting it down on the counter by the pot.

STEVE

(Hurriedly, right on the tail of Dustin’s words)

Great, I’ll do it.

He dumps the entire thing from the pot to his plate

DUSTIN

Uh, Steve? Don’t you think that’s a little too much?

Steve ignores him. He takes a fork and takes a mouthful of the now sickly green pasta. His eyes start to water and he fights to keep a straight face, though he feels like spitting it out. He swallows, the green pallor more visible on his complexion.

DUSTIN

So? How is it?

There is a long pause.

STEVE

It’s not happening.

DUSTIN

What?

STEVE

I said this is disgusting and I’m throwing it all away.

DUSTIN

Excuse me? We worked on that for the last hour! We can’t throw that out!

Steve shoves the plate in Dustin’s face.

STEVE

Look at this! Smell it. If this were a restaurant, we’d be sued by health inspectors.

Dustin scrunches up his face when the stench finally reaches him.

DUSTIN

Yuck! Why didn’t I smell that before? Jesus Christ, you’re right, get that out of here. That thing is radioactive!

Steve empties the plate into the trash.

FADE OUT.


End file.
